Authors: Elizabeth Starr Hill

Wildfire! (2 page)

BOOK: Wildfire!

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Miss Alice was on her porch when they got there. She was holding a skinny little white puppy in her arms. The pup looked at Goomby and Ben and Elliot with scared dark eyes. Hesitantly, it wagged its tail.

“Why, where did he come from?” Goomby exclaimed. She reached out a wrinkled tanned hand and stroked the pup. “He's not from around here.”

Mr. Hendrick came over from next door. The Olsen family, who lived farther up the road, hurried
to join them. The neighbors agreed. Nobody had ever seen the pup before.

“I think he was dropped off by a car this morning,” Miss Alice told them. “I saw a car come through, not anybody we know. And then there was this poor little mite, out in the road.”

Mr. Olsen made a sound of disgust. “It's terrible how people do that with a pet sometimes. They don't want them anymore, so they drop them off like a sack of peanuts.”

“That's awful,” Elliot said indignantly. “Hello, boy. Hello.” He stroked the puppy's nose.

“I can't keep him,” Miss Alice said. “I'm at my sister's so much. I hoped one of you might take him.”

Mrs. Olsen shook her head. “We've got three dogs already.”

“I'm more of a cat person,” Mr. Hendrick said.

Ben looked into the pup's frightened eyes. He imagined how awful it would be, to be dumped in a strange place with strange people. He had a dim memory of feeling like that when his parents died.

He longed to say, “I'll take him.”

He had never had a dog. But when summer was over, he would be in school all day. Grandma and Grandpa would be working, as usual. It would mean extra trouble for Goomby.

He felt Goomby's sharp dark eyes on his face. She drew a breath, and Ben felt a flare of hope. But before she could speak, Elliot said, “I'd love to have a dog.”

Miss Alice turned to him gratefully. “Really, Elliot?”

“Yes, ma'am. It sounds like fun.”

“Well, it's a big responsibility, too,” Miss Alice told him. “I'd have to ask your mother.”

“Okay. I guess you don't have a phone?”

“Yes, I do,” she replied. She hesitated for a moment, studying Elliot's face. He wore a sincere, hopeful expression, with none of his usual superior smirk.

Ben's thoughts flashed to all the times Elliot had made fun of Miss Alice and her bells, always behind her back, of course. And now Miss Alice was looking at him with a kind of fondness! Grownups never seemed to see through Elliot, he
was so polite, so two-faced. Ben felt a familiar despair. He wished he could be like that, saying and doing the right things to get his own way. But he never knew what to say.

He didn't know now.

Miss Alice made up her mind. She asked Elliot, “What's your number?”

He told her. She went off, still holding the puppy.

The boys waited silently while she made the call. Ben's heart thumped. He thought Mrs. Lorton might say no, and then Goomby might say â¦

But in a minute Miss Alice was back, smiling. “It's fine with your mother. You can take him right now, if you want.”

“Oh, I do.”

She placed the pup in his arms. “You can buy a collar and leash at Nelson's Hardware. You'll need to hold on to him until he learns his name and where he lives.”

Elliot nodded. “This is wonderful, Miss Alice. Thanks a lot.”

“Well, you're welcome. Give him a good home,” she answered, beaming.

Elliot put the pup down. The little dog looked bewildered. Elliot snapped his fingers and said, “Come on, fella.”

The pup spotted a squirrel. He ran toward it, barked, and scared it up a tree.

Elliot laughed. He repeated, “Come
on
.”

Miss Alice said, “I should have given him a rope to tie on that pup.”

The pup threw one more bark up the tree at the squirrel, then trotted after Elliot.

Ben watched them go. There was an ache inside him.

After supper Grandma and Grandpa and Goomby watched TV. Ben sat alone out on the porch. The woods grew dark. Fireflies appeared dimly, their lights blurred by smoke.

Ben imagined what it would be like if the pup were his. Ideas bubbled in him, sweet as soda.

He imagined the dog waiting for him to come home from school, sitting on the porch. The pup
would see him walking along the road. He would run forward, wagging his tail really hard. Maybe he would jump up and lick Ben's face. Ben had seen one of the Olsen dogs do that, almost knocking the littlest Olsen kid off his feet. The memory of it made him laugh.

He would teach the puppy to catch a Frisbee, and not to chase cats. Mr. Hendrick hated it when a dog chased his cats.

They would go fishing together, keeping each other company on the bank of the creek. A wonderful sense of hospitality warmed Ben, thinking about it. He would show the puppy his favorite places, share a piece of corn pone with him, maybe teach him to swim.

But after a while, sitting in the dark, his imaginings faded and he was just Ben again, alone. It was Elliot who had the dog.

Ben and his family got up early the next morning to pack Goomby's food hampers in the truck, along with a water jug and blankets. The box of fireworks and matches were still in the pickupâGrandpa had stored them there before the banâbut they didn't take up much space. Ben stepped around them to fit in one last hamper.

He smelled honey cake. He couldn't resist lifting the hamper's lid and sneaking a piece into his mouth. It melted on his tongue, all buttery sweetness.

Goomby came up behind him and rapped his hand lightly. “No more!”

“Okay. It's really good, Goomby.” Ben licked the crumbs off his fingers and set to work again.

After the food was all loaded, they drove the short distance to the park. When they got there, Goomby and Grandma chose a place for them to spread their blankets, under a huge live oak tree. This would give them shade for most of the day.

“Going to be another scorcher,” Grandpa said, wiping his brow.

The day was hazy and very hot. Across the road in the forest, smoke hung heavily in the still air.

Several other families brought their blankets and food to the shelter of the oak. Elliot and his parents came with the puppy. The little dog was panting in the heat.

“May we join you?” Mrs. Lorton asked.

“Why sure.” Grandma smiled.

“You bet,” Grandpa added. “Sit right down.”

“We're not used to weather like this,” Mr. Lorton said.

“Well, Florida summers are fierce till you get used to them,” Grandma said.

“I don't think I ever will.” Mrs. Lorton sighed.

The pup tried to climb into Ben's lap. He still wasn't wearing a collar or leash. Elliot grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and yanked him back.

“What're you going to name him?” Ben asked. Elliot shrugged. “Dunno.” His first interest in the pup seemed to be wearing off.

Mrs. Lorton asked, “You're Ben, aren't you?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

She smiled. “Isn't it nice that Elliot has a dog now? He's never had one before.”

She made it sound as though the whole world should rejoice.

“Yes, ma'am,” Ben said.

“I've told the boy he'll have to take good care of him,” Mr. Lorton said. “That teaches a kid responsibility,” he added to Goomby.

“Mmm,” Goomby responded.

“I wonder if we should have brought a water bowl for him,” Mrs. Lorton asked.

“I should think so,” Goomby answered. “Take this.” She handed Mrs. Lorton a bowl.

“Oh, thank you.” Mrs. Lorton took it and filled it with water from her thermos. The pup lapped thirstily. When the water was gone, he looked up hopefully, as if asking for more.

Elliot was gazing off to where the parade was forming. He paid no attention to the pup.

More and more people gathered. Many were waving little flags.

Soon the band struck up “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Everyone scrambled to their feet. The parade began.

Bending Creek's Yankee Doodle Dandies, the marching band, led the way. They were followed by stars from Miss Louise's dance classes, who pranced forward, twirling batons. They threw the batons in the air and spun them, caught them, then tossed them up and caught them again, never dropping one.

“I don't know how they do that,” Grandma murmured.

A slow-moving open car appeared, carrying
Mayor Jolson. He was standing, flourishing a big straw hat. People cheered and applauded.

Then two police cars passed, sirens blaring, cops waving, and everybody cheered again.

Next came decorated vehicles advertising local businesses. Mr. Meehan from the grocery was driving a truckload of brightly colored fake vegetables and giant jars of food. Mr. Meehan was popular in town. The crowd laughed. Somebody called out jokingly, “Hey, Meehan, you gonna have a special on those tomatoes?”

Cindy, the craft shop lady, had glued balls of knitting yarn and sequins onto a banner and wrapped it around her car. Mr. Cass, who owned the bowling alley, was dressed as a clown. He walked along juggling pins while an assistant rolled a huge make-believe bowling ball behind him.

Last, and best, was a float bearing Bunny Johnson, Miss Bending Creek. She wore a pink dress and a rhinestone crown. The float was decorated with hundreds of paper roses, and Bunny, perspiring but smiling gamely, waved and waved.

At the end, the Yankee Doodle Dandies appeared again and played the parade off, to more cheers and applause.

People settled back down on their blankets.

“Wasn't that something?” Grandma said proudly to the Lortons.

“Our best parade ever!” Goomby agreed.

Mr. and Mrs. Lorton murmured something polite. But looking at the ground, Elliot muttered, “You've got to be kidding.”

Ben felt a stab of anger and shame. He wished Elliot would go away, but no such luck.

Mayor Jolson climbed to the bandstand. He made his usual speech about freedom and how this was a day to remember.

Ben could tell from Elliot's face that he thought the speech was dumb and boring, just like the parade. Just like everything else in Bending Creek. And this year there wouldn't even be fireworks.

Ben had looked forward to this day so much, but now he saw it as Elliot did, and it seemed empty and flat. He wished there were something
more to look forward to today, something unexpected and exciting.

Mr. Olsen, who was the scoutmaster, organized games for the kids, but they were the same old games. There was a tug-of-war, a ringtoss, a lot of pickup games of catch. Ben and Al Mason were partners in the three-legged race. They won. Elliot won the ringtoss. In the tug-of-war he and Ben were on the same side. It seemed to Ben that he pulled a lot harder than Elliot, but he wasn't sure Elliot noticed.

Ben played until he was tired, but he still wanted something else to happen. Something different.

He sat with some of the other kids on the ground under an orchid tree. The tree had been pretty earlier in the summer, covered with deep pink flowers. Now it was sun-dried and sorry-looking, like everything else.

“Usually we have fireworks after dark,” Lucy Johnson was telling Elliot.

“My kid brother brought a lot of sparklers last year,” Jimmy Kyler said.

“I set off a lot of stuff with my grandpa,” Ben said. He added, “We would have done that this year, too. We already bought them.”

“What did you do with them?” Elliot asked.

“We still have them over in the truck,” Ben said.

Elliot's eyes got interested. “Right here, you mean?”

Suddenly Ben felt uneasy. “Yeah,” he said. “But we can't set them off this year. You know that.”

“Sure, I know that,” Elliot said with his superior smirk. “But how about firing just a
few
of them? Who'd ever know?”

“Oh, do it, Ben!” Lucy chimed in excitedly. She was an older girl, always a ringleader in any kind of trouble. “We
oughta
have fireworks!”

A restless little itch scratched inside Ben. He thought of rockets exploding, of all the real fun of the Fourth of July. Finally, this day would become special!

He hesitated. “We might get in a lot of trouble,” he said.

“We could take them down to the lake,” Lucy put in. “Nobody'd see us from here!”

“Somebody might,” Jimmy Kyler offered timidly.

“You're always such a chicken,” Lucy told the little boy scornfully.

“I
dare
you,” Elliot told Ben. “Bet you don't have the nerve.”

Ben's face reddened. “Sure I do. It's justâ” he stammered.

“Just what?” Lucy demanded.

“
Double
dare you!” Elliot taunted.

“Okay! Okay! I was thinking of doing it anyway,” Ben lied. A thrilled, reckless feeling took hold of him. “Meet me at the lake right after the band concert.”

“Oh, gee,” Jimmy Kyler said apprehensively.

“Are you in or out?” Lucy asked him relentlessly.

Jimmy was not a ringleader of anything, but he usually followed any suggestion. “In,” he quavered.

Four or five other kids were gathered around
them. “Don't say anything to anybody else,” Ben cautioned. They all shook their heads.

“Okay. See you there then.”

They nodded numbly.

Giddy with power, Ben told Elliot, “That means you, too.”

“Right.” Elliot grinned. “Let's get something to eat.”

BOOK: Wildfire!

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